Difficulty handing in all assignments
Introduction
There are several potential reasons for a student to be inconsistent in handing in his or her assignments. Therefore, I am trying a multi-pronged approach. Some issues are addressed in the strategies below and other issues are better addressed in strategies listed under other difficulties.
In discussions with my mentors, it has been observed many times that almost no students fail college prep courses when they have submitted every assignment.
Therefore, I feel it is important in my courses to focus on developing habits of the mind to foster students' ability to be successful over a four month semester, in addition to focusing on the individual learning outcomes of each course.
Strategies to Address this Difficulty
- I keep to a regular pattern for due dates, making almost all of my assignments due Friday afternoons to help students develop a rhythm to their work. This is also a good scheduling strategy for any students struggling with disabilities, so it meets several official accommodation needs.
- I have planned again for a computer lab time once per week since it proved extremely effective this past semester to address this need. Many students have reported finding it easier to finish an assignment than to start it, so I plan to keep this practice going for a long time.
- I have repeated scheduled the Counsellors to make a 30 minute presentation explaining what procrastination really is (it’s not the moral failing, like Society tells us) and what the Science says about how to deal with it.
- The presentation by the Counsellors will be followed again by a 30 minute presentation by Learning Assistance Instructors on Time Management and Planning.